Recent content by George Punter

The engine is not running yet but hope to rectify that soon as I am now working on the ignition system. The main structures of this have been 3D printed but I have to add a few details. The distributor has to have the rotor arm fitted with a brass insert to conduct the sparks to the correct pick...

The engine is of my own design and is not modelled on any particular engine. The full size loco had a six cylinder Caterpillar of 375 kW and drove through a torque converter. My engine has a bore of 40mm and a stroke of 39mm giving a capacity of 147cc. All the castings are in aluminium and cast...

Good Day JCSteam, A few more photographs of the loco showing the inside details of the cab before the interior was painted, sand cores for the cylinder, the crankcase almost ready to pour in the aluminium. I will send more engine and construction details in the next email. George.

These photographs show the construction of some of the parts of the 150cc 3 cylinder engine. The crankshaft was machined from a solid billet of 4140 steel and took 15,000 turns of the handle on the rotary handle to machine the big end bearings! An oil pump provides oil to the centre bearings and...

I have included some photographs of the engine and it’s construction. The unit is not quite finished as I still have to make some parts for the ignition system and then test the unit. I expect there will be some teething problems but will try to sort them out one at a time. I am looking forward...

After many years this project is all most finished. It is a scale model of a Queensland DH class diesel loco as used for shunting duties in Bundaberg. The model is powered by a 3 cylinder cross flow side valve water cooled engine of my own design and making. It drives through a 2 forward and one...

Good Day Brian, I have been following your engine construction and it brought back many memories of the first engine that I designed and made ( also a flat twin of 20cc). Like you I encountered problems but gradually eliminated them one by one. It’s all part of that learning curve. On some of my...

Well I am now back in action having spent some time overseas and also having cataracts removed from both eyes. It gave me time to think about the problem I had with the design of the cylinder for the tractor engine. Having spent some time looking at water cooled motorcycle and our board motors...

Good Day Bigjy, This project is not quite finished and has not been tested. I hope to complete the engine and loco by the end of the year and if all goes well I may produce an article for the UK “ Model Engineer” that may contain drawings. Regards, George

Over the last few weeks I have been thinking of the best way to cast the cylinder crankcase unit. While I have made many four stroke engines this is the first attempt at a fuel injected hot bulb two stroke water cooled unit. The water cooling adds to the problem as I am not sure if I will use a...

Tamey welcome to the hobby. As there are so many aspects to our hobby I am sure you will find something that takes your fancy. It is a great user of time and also exercises the brain cells and I am sure you will soon find there will be plenty of fellow model engineers who are willing to help and...

Nat what area of model engineering are you interested in ? As a teacher in the UK before I came to Australia our workshops were equiped with Boxford lathes but later I taught in a large comprehensive school and that was equiped with Colchester Student lathes and also had the luxury of a Senior...

Thanks Nat for the information on the Mc Donald tractor manuals etc. I will make contact with the seller soon with a view to ordering the most suitable book. I think a phone call will give me the opportunity to discuss the content of the books and my needs. I appreciate the help. I was pleased...

Hi Nat, I don’t intend to start the actual construction of the model tractor until the end if the year as I have another project to complete first. I am still gathering information and any help will be very much appreciated. I do have a reprint of a booklet that has two section drawings of...

Thanks Nat for the comments relating to the Mc Donald tractor and model. I am fortunate it that the full size tractor is situated only 17 kms away from my home and is one of a pair owned by the same family. These two tractors have consecutive engine numbers yet both came originally from...